


Pretty Convincing for Fake Husbands

by Impala_Chick



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Affection, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Complicated Relationships, Fake Marriage, Fake Marriage to Piss Off the Press, M/M, News Media, Past Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Post-Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), Pre-Relationship, Press and Tabloids, Protective Steve Rogers, Wedding Rings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-06
Updated: 2019-08-06
Packaged: 2020-07-24 17:45:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20018509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Impala_Chick/pseuds/Impala_Chick
Summary: After Ultron, the press is having a field day trying to tear Tony to shreds. All of the headlines and soundbites make Steve's blood boil. So he decides to divert their attention.





	Pretty Convincing for Fake Husbands

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lets_call_me_Lily](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lets_call_me_Lily/gifts).



> I tried to combine a few of your prompts - I hope you enjoy :)
> 
> Thanks so much to nasafic for the beta! This prompt got a bit complicated so thanks so much for helping me sort out the plot!

Once they stepped out of the Quinjet in New York, the Avengers were immediately surrounded by reporters. Steve shouldered forward, intimidating enough to make some of them move backwards until a small path was cleared. Several of them shoved microphones in his face, shouting questions at him. “What happened in Sokovia? Any words for all of the grieving families? Where did the killer robot come from?” 

Steve narrowed his eyes at them, and the shouting was significantly reduced. He was tired, and there was dirt in places he didn’t know could get dirty considering how tight his uniform was, and he desperately wanted to use his own shower. But as soon as he pushed past the group, he heard them focus their attention on Tony. 

“Any truth to the rumors that you built the killer robot? Do you want to comment on how much destruction was caused by technology? Why did it take the Avengers so long to stop him?” 

Steve bristled and turned around. The Avengers were all way too exhausted to be able to form coherent sentences, let alone create choice soundbites, and they all deserved a break from the hell that had been Sokovia. He reached Tony’s side just in time to watch a huge fake grin break across Tony’s face.

“I can promise The Avengers will release more details in the future. For now, we’ve got some new Avengers to train. And I’ve got a retirement to get to,” Tony said, his voice loud and injected with an unnatural level of enthusiasm. 

It was silent for a few moments, and then there was a huge clamor of questions as everyone shouted and jostled forward, trying to get to Tony. Tony just waved his hand and pushed past them, not uttering another word. Steve looked over his shoulder at Nat and Clint, who both shrugged with their eyes wide and surprised. It looked like none of them had known about Tony’s retirement plan. 

Steve felt anger simmering in his chest at being kept in the dark, but he tried to push that aside. There was a huge mob forming around them and Steve’s priority was getting them all inside safely. Steve gritted his teeth before putting a guiding hand on Tony’s elbow, hoping that eventually the reporters would realize they weren’t getting another word out of any of them and just go home.

\----

The television was turned on in the mess while Steve ate his lunch. Steve usually spent his break to catch up on whatever was headlining the news, if he was eating alone. After the Avengers had gotten back from Sokovia, the news had focused a lot on what happened there. They sometimes got the facts laughably wrong, but Steve was still trying to come to terms with all that had happened and watching news footage in a clinical and detached way helped.

He stuck his fork into his chicken salad and watched as a picture of Tony in a business suit appeared on the screen next to the news anchor. 

The ticker tape below the images read _Stark might be to blame for killer robot_. The news anchor then launched into a monologue. 

“Certain anonymous sources claim that Tony Stark invented and launched Ultron. Ultron was created to be an unstoppable weapon, built without any safeguards in place. Stark did not inform the United States Government or the other Avengers about this weapon and launched it without permission. The Avengers apparently came to blows over such a massive oversight by Stark. This led to the Avengers breaking up soon after.”

Steve could feel his blood pressure rising as he listened. The broadcast flashed another picture of Tony, smiling in the tank top he sometimes wore in his workshop, and Steve grimaced as the words “killer robot” flashed underneath. That picture just looked so _intimate_ , and they had no right to use that to paint Tony as some kind of mad scientist.

Sure, Steve hadn’t known about the Ultron plan. He would have wanted to stop it. Hell, he did try to stop it. But the fallout was between Tony and the rest of his team to deal with, and they’d dealt with it. If the news intended on airing dirty laundry, they should get their facts straight.

Steve looked down and realized that the fork in his hand was cracked into pieces from his bone-crushing grip.

\----

He discovered the next day that the news stations weren’t going to drop the story. He was walking through the rec room on his way down to the gym, and someone had left the television on. The anchor’s words stopped him in his tracks.

“It seems that if Tony Stark is the only one capable of making Ultron, shouldn’t he have easily been able to control it?” The woman on the screen was asking a man in a business suit, who was seated at a glass table.

“It seems like a simple enough thing if you’re smart enough to build it, right? And I can’t imagine anyone else was in on this. Surely Captain America would have stopped this right away. He wouldn’t have stood for such a dangerous thing to be created, and he would have told Tony Stark to get it under control.” The man talked as if he knew Steve personally, when Steve had absolutely never seen him before.

He felt angry that the man would pretend to speak for him, but he was even more insulted that the man would dare try to disparage Tony by comparing the two of them. The man was blatantly implying that Steve had spoken out against Tony publicly. No matter how mad Steve was at Tony, he would never shit talk him to the press. He hoped Tony knew that much about him. 

He had the nagging sense that he should call Tony, just to make sure he wasn’t angry with him. But then he remembered Tony was experienced at being a public icon. This can’t have been the first time he was disparaged in the press. Tony was most likely enjoying his time away from the Avengers and catching up on whatever it was he liked to do when the world didn’t need saving. Maybe he was even trying to sort things out with Pepper, and Steve really didn’t want to interrupt that just to soothe his own worries.

\----

Steve had online subscriptions to several newspapers, and that night as he clicked through them, all of the headlines had to do with Tony and Ultron.

STARK AND AVENGERS AT ODDS

ULTRON WAS NOT DESTROYED

STARK USES WORLDWIDE SURVEILLANCE ON DARK WEB

STARK OSTRACIZED FROM AVENGERS COMPOUND

Steve threw his tablet down on the bed and picked up his phone. He had to do _something_. Maybe he could write an opinion piece, or he could ask Pepper if she knew any trustworthy journalists so he could give an interview. Just as he was about to call her, he received a message.

She’d beat him to it, and had already scheduled a press conference for the next morning. Tony was going to make a statement and take questions. All of the original Avengers were invited if they could come. 

Steve typed out a quick reply.

_I’ll be there._

\----

After looking out at the small crowd of reporters gathered in the press room of the compound, Steve rubbed his sweaty palms against his jeans and retreated back behind the door.

Tony still hadn’t arrived, but Pepper had already briefed him on the plan. Tony was going to go out there and take a few questions. Stark Industries had already distributed a press release. Most of the gathered reporters were people Pepper knew, so she said it shouldn’t be chaos like it was when they first returned from Sokovia. She added that it would be great if Steve could stand at the podium in a show of solidarity.

She was currently typing away on her phone, seemingly very engrossed in something business related. Nat was waiting with Steve to offer support, but she’d already said she had no desire to actually go out there and deal with shouting reporters.

“He’ll do fine, you know. He’s good at these sorts of things,” Nat said when Steve started pacing.

“I know he is. That doesn’t mean they’ll go easy on him.” Steve gestured towards the door, and then crossed his arms.

Nat squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. Steve was grateful for her calm strength, but he kept picturing reporters viciously yelling at Tony, or calling him a criminal.

Tony breezed up to them with a genuine smile on his face, which only made Steve more worried. Maybe Tony expected better from the reporters than Steve did. He was wearing a crisp blue suit with a white button-up and a red tie, and Steve had no doubt he could command a room. But there were many variables at play, namely about thirteen seasoned reporters seemingly intent on destroying Tony.

Tony hugged Nat, and met Steve’s eye over her shoulder. Steve debated discussing his worries with Tony before they took the podium, but the words lodged in this throat. He didn’t want to make things worse by sounding less than supportive.

“Thanks for coming. This shouldn’t take long, honestly. But Pepper thinks this might make a difference, considering how I botched my retirement announcement.” Tony laughed a little, but then he must have noticed Steve’s sour expression, because he stopped laughing to smile softly at him. 

“Deep breaths, everyone. It’ll be fine,” he promised as he held Steve’s gaze.

And then Tony pushed open the doors, and Steve followed after him. Tony stepped up to the podium and spoke clearly into the microphone.

“Welcome, everyone. I believe you’ve already received our press release and you know that I’ve retired from the Avenging business. I’d love to take questions about Sokovia and Ultron now.” Tony smiled at the crowd, clearly trying to dazzle them. Steve glanced out at the audience, and every single reporter had a hand in the air.

Tony pointed at a woman with curly black hair. “Did you make Ultron?”

“Yes, I did. Although he didn’t really turn out as planned. There were complications.” Tony explained. 

“Why didn’t you tell the other Avengers about Ultron?” The woman replied.

“The project was ongoing at Stark Industries and I did not expect it to be completed at so quickly. I don’t usually inform my team of everything going on at SI. Next question.”

Tony pointed at a bald man standing in the front row. 

“Did the Avengers break up?” 

Steve glared at the man, his hands tightened into fists at his sides. The question seemed offensive considering the Avengers had worked as a team during the recovery efforts in Sokovia, but Tony didn’t seem perturbed. 

“No, I’ve just decided to retire,” Tony said patiently.

The man immediately followed up with another question. “Are you retiring because Cap doesn’t want to work with you anymore?”

Tony glanced over at him, and Steve’s mind whirred as he considered what he could say. He wanted to give the press a soundbite that would completely overshadow their story about Tony engineering Ultron. He also wanted them to stop writing about the supposed ‘feud' between himself and Tony. Only one possible solution came to mind. It was terribly drastic, but Steve was out of time to think of something else.

Before Tony could stop him, Steve stepped up to the podium and pressed his shoulder against Tony’s so that he could move closer to the microphone. 

“Hello?” He said as he leaned down to test the mic’s volume. His voice boomed across the room, and everyone fell silent and put their hands down. Their faces turned towards him expectantly and they all had pens in their hands or recorders held out.

“I, uh. Tony and I got married,” Steve said as he put an arm around Tony’s shoulders. He heard Tony sputtering next to him, but he didn’t dare look over at his face. He just kept looking out at the crowd, hoping to present a calm, confident front. After a moment, he felt Tony raise his arm and wrap it around his waist. He could feel the warmth of Tony’s fingers through his shirt.

“So you really shouldn’t have any doubts about how I feel towards Tony,” Steve added.

Most of the reporters mouths were hanging open. A couple of them had dropped their notebooks, and others were scribbling furiously. 

“When?” The blonde woman from before asked.

Steve panicked that he hadn’t thought of a back story, but Tony was already leaning towards the microphone to deflect the question and ask that their privacy be respected. It was impossible for Steve to pay attention to the rest of the press conference after that. Tony only took one more question before hustling them both out of the room.

Steve was extremely aware of the way Tony’s grip tightened around his waist. Tony didn’t let go of him until the press conference ended.

\----

“What the fuck, Rogers?” Tony said, whirling on Steve as soon as the door was shut.

“You guys didn’t plan that?” Pepper sounded just as angry as Tony. Steve winced, suddenly feeling worse than he had when Tony rounded on him. He hadn’t considered how his announcement would make Tony’s ex feel, but it was too little too late now.

“Steve pulled that out of his ass. He definitely didn’t consult me about it,” Tony said, waving his hands around as he spoke. 

“But then you just went along with it, Tony. We can’t pass this off as a joke now!” Pepper had both of her hands on her hips, and she looked frighteningly intimidating. 

“Look, that was probably not the right thing to do out there -” Steve started to say as he stuffed his hands into his pockets.

Pepper turned towards him with her eyes narrowed.

“That was a very rash thing to do,” Pepper said. “This little announcement of yours might make things worse.”

“What do you mean?” Steve asked with a sinking feeling in his gut. 

“If either of you call it quits, they will want to know who broke up with who. There will have to be a villain of the story,” Pepper explained slowly, as if she was talking to children.

“That’s easy, we just won’t break up. In public, I mean,” Steve said hastily. Tony stepped towards him and shook his head, a sad smile on his face.

“Steve, our public lives are constantly scrutinized. People will notice when we don’t even wear rings,” Tony pointed out. 

“Could you at least keep it up for a while? Maybe you can just let your fake relationship fade out without making a formal announcement. The only public appearance planned right now is your scheduled return to Sokovia next week. And Tony has plenty of projects in the works. No reason to be out in the public eye much,” Pepper said after a moment of thought. She was looking at Tony as she spoke.

Tony’s phone started to ring incessantly, so Tony fished it out of his pocket to silence it.

“Cap?” Tony asked, deferring to Steve. 

“What would we have to do? To keep up appearances?” Steve asked.

“Maybe some public dates?” Tony said hesitantly. He seemed uncomfortable by the very idea, and his tone made Steve’s heart sink. 

“A vacation. You guys definitely need to go on a honeymoon.” Nat spoke up. His head whipped around to look at her, and she smiled wickedly at him. 

Tony snapped his fingers and pointed at her before turning to Steve. “What do you think, Cap? Spain is nice this time of year. Or Italy. Maybe Florence?” 

Steve glared at Nat, and she just shrugged in response.

A vacation. In an exotic, _romantic_ location. The very idea made Steve’s stomach churn, and not because he didn’t think a vacation with Tony would be fun. Steve rarely had an opportunity to actually spend time with Tony one on one. The problem was more that Tony would have to spend his money and time going somewhere with Steve when he didn’t actually want to.

“What if we just do dinner?” Steve ventured. 

“If you guys do something local there will be more exposure anyway,” Pepper added.

“I’ll pick you up at 8? Wear something nice.” Tony grinned his shark-like grin, the one he’d used on the press. And then Tony’s phone started to ring again, so he took it out of his pocket and walked down the hallway to answer it. 

“Rhodey?” Steve heard him say. Pepper hurried after Tony until they were out of earshot.

Steve looked over at Nat, hoping for some kind of sympathy. Surely someone could see why he’d made the choice he had. He wasn’t a total nutter. But all he saw on her face was wry amusement.

“Don’t even start,” he warned. She did not heed his request.

“Oh no, an all-expenses paid dinner at a mystery location with the world’s most interesting billionaire pretending to be your husband. Whatever will you do?” she teased. 

Steve groaned. She was enjoying this way too much, but at least that made one of them.

\----

When Steve and Nat made it back to the compound, Clint and Sam were waiting for them.

“I’m sorry, you did what?” Sam sputtered as the four of them sat around the coffee table in the rec room.

“Tony ate it up, it seemed like,” Clint said with a laugh. “You should watch the press conference, Sam.”

“I’m just surprised you could lie like that.” Sam still looked flabbergasted.

“I just wanted the reporters to stop making Tony out to be an outcast,” Steve said. “I reacted instinctively.”

“Yeah, but marriage? You could have at least asked the guy out first,” Sam said.

“Nah, this is way flashier. Definitely got his attention,” Clint said as he stood up and clapped his hands together. “Okay so now you need to change. What are you wearing tonight? Do you have something that says, ‘I just got secretly married but I’m really happy about it’?”

Before Steve could come up with a suitable reply that involved telling Clint where to shove his advice, he and Sam tore off down the hallway to his bedroom.

“Ugh, Steve. These slacks are ridiculous,” Sam called from his room.

“Steve, get in here and try this on!” Clint called soon after. Nat sat back on the couch and crossed her arms.

“You wouldn’t believe it, but Clint is really good about picking out clothes. Let’s have a fashion show,” she said as she gestured towards Steve’s room.

Steve was grateful that none of them were pressing him on how he felt about Tony. It was complicated at best, given how most of their interactions thus far had devolved into a fight. But he couldn’t deny that he felt protective over him and he wanted to make Tony proud of him. And Tony was definitely easy on the eyes.

Steve got up to dutifully follow after his friends, just hoping he could get through the date without doing anything he might regret.

\----

When Steve laid eyes on Tony, he felt under-dressed in the black jeans and light blue button-up that Clint and Sam had helped him pick out. Tony was wearing a black suit that was clearly made for him, and the top two buttons of his dress shirt were unbuttoned. He looked every inch the playboy. Plus, Tony’s eyes were sparkling like he was genuinely excited, and his expression made Steve’s heart pound from anticipation.

“Hello there, husband. You okay with me driving?” Tony spoke the word husband so casually, Steve nearly swallowed his tongue once he realized Tony had said it. 

“Sure,” Steve said once he recovered. 

Tony walked around the expensive looking car to open the door for Steve, even though Steve tried to laugh it off and tell him he didn’t have to. Once they were both seated, Tony pulled out two velvet boxes from his inside jacket pocket, and Steve sucked in a breath. 

There was nothing else that could be inside those boxes. 

Tony popped one open and put it on the console between them, turning it so Steve could see the simple gold band nestled inside. The bright sunlight that poured in through the windshield made the band shine. 

“I made us matching ones. I figured we have to have them to be believable, right?” Tony’s voice was soft, and he bit his bottom lip after he stopped talking. 

Steve picked up the box and admired the band. 

“You made this?” Steve was surprised Tony had found the time. 

He nodded, carefully watching Steve’s face.

“It’s perfect,” Steve said, and meant it. He pulled it out of the box and slipped it onto his finger, before holding his hand out to watch the light reflect off of the new band. 

Tony cleared his throat, and then reached out and squeezed Steve’s shoulder before he started the car. The whole way there, Steve’s shoulder felt warm where Tony had touched him.

\----

There was a horde of paparazzi gathered around Tony’s car when they pulled up to the valet outside the restaurant. Steve emerged first, and was startled by the flashing lights and shouted questions. He kept his head down and walked over to where Tony was handing off his keys.

“Shall we?” Tony said. He put out his hand and Steve grabbed it. He looked calm and confident, and if Steve didn’t know any better he’d have sworn that the bright smile on his face was genuine. But it was impossible to forget why there were there. Lights were constantly flashing and Steve was seeing white spots from the sheer amount of white flashes. People were swirling around them, shouting and hustling to keep up with them. The sea of cameras and people barely parted enough for Steve and Tony to squeeze through, but Tony pulled Steve along like it didn’t bother him at all.

Steve breathed a sigh of relief once they walked through the big glass double doors, and the noise from outside subsided. 

“Is it always like this for you?” Steve asked once they were being escorted to their table.

Tony shook his head, looking a little sheepish as he pulled out Steve’s chair. 

“I’ve learned some tricks to avoid them. If I just avoid certain hotspots, or stay at home, I’m not bothered so much. But this place used to be an old haunt of mine, and I might have tipped someone off that we were coming,” Tony explained.

Steve nodded in understanding, but he was still trying to process why Tony was acting so damn _nice_. Holding open doors, pulling out chairs, making them matching rings. None of it seemed necessary, save maybe the rings.

Tony ended up ordering for them because Steve trusted his judgement. Tony radiated a positive energy that captivated Steve on a normal day, and tonight that energy seemed to be magnified. Tony looked absolutely regal as he laughed and talked and cut into his steak. It was no hardship to sit across from him. Steve was careful not to get caught staring, though. The pressure of making a public appearance melted into the back of Steve’s mind rather quickly. 

As they were leaving the restaurant, Steve was reaching out to pull Tony closer before he remembered that they weren’t actually on date. He quickly wrapped his arms around his torso self-consciously to keep them as far away from Tony as possible.

Tony glanced over, and he must have assumed Steve was cold, because he shrugged out of his suit jacket.

“Just take it, Steve. It’s not exactly your size but it’ll keep you warm,” Tony said as he draped it over Steve’s shoulders.

Steve was too surprised to say anything right away, but the gentle way Tony smoothed the jacket against Steve’s shoulders made him shiver. He glanced over at Tony, and noticed the way his eyes crinkled in the corners, and the way his cheeks were flushed from the crisp night air. He picked up their conversation right where they left off, but Steve felt like something had shifted.

It wasn’t just that Tony had offered his jacket, and then touched Steve in the process of giving it to him. The whole point of this date was for people to witness their fake relationship, and yet there was absolutely no one around to photograph what Tony had done.

Steve didn’t know what to make of that, but he decided to let Tony take the lead. If they were going to play up the relationship even when the cameras were off, Steve wasn’t going to object. He rather enjoyed seeing the soft, tender side of Tony.

\----

The papps wasted no time publishing the photos. The next morning, Clint helpfully printed one out and stuck it on the fridge, and Nat stole his phone to change his background.

The headlines were fairly flattering, too. 

CAP AND IRONMAN TIE THE KNOT

HOTTEST WORKPLACE ROMANCE OF THE CENTURY

CAP AND IRONMAN ENJOY RARE DOWNTIME TOGETHER

As he skimmed the articles, he didn’t see any mention of Tony being a traitor or a criminal. In most of the accompanying images, Tony was smiling and looking over at Steve and their hands were firmly locked together. One of the pictures was a close-up of Steve’s left hand and you could clearly see the ring. There was a couple shots of them sitting in the restaurant too, smiling and laughing. 

Steve knew that the images were purposefully portraying a fake relationship, but Steve couldn’t help but admire the details of them. Like Tony’s bright eyes, or the way his hands were blurred a bit because he was moving them as he was talking, or the way he’d ditched his jacket and rolled up his sleeves almost as soon as they’d sat down at their table. 

Each photo commemorated some intimacy that Steve had gotten to see the night before and made the memory permanent instead of just some fleeting dream. He guiltily saved some of the pictures just so he could savor them later, after their fake marriage was over.

His phone buzzed after he was done at the gym. Tony sent him a screen grab from a blog post. It was a picture of them walking into the restaurant, hand in hand. There was soft light surrounding them, and their silhouettes stood out starkly against the glass of the doors in front of them. Maybe the photo had been enhanced a bit, because the gold of Steve’s ring shone brightly in the middle of the photo. 

_Pretty convincing for fake husbands, eh?_

Steve smiled and bit his lip before typing out a reply.

_Definitely._

\----

Tony was constantly busy at his own workshop, seemingly engrossed in the new armor he was creating. Steve stopped by to see him a few times. He quietly sat in the room with his sketch pad, watching Tony work. Tony kept telling him he didn’t have to come, but Steve wasn’t there out of obligation. He liked being around Tony when he wasn’t cultivating his public persona or focusing on a mission. He was calmer, less guarded. He sang or hummed as he worked. He lounged in a tank tops and drank copious amounts of coffee. He was definitely in his element, and Steve was drawn to him even more.

There were still articles being printed about Steve and Tony, and reporters speculated wildly about when their relationship had changed into something more intimate. But for the most part, Avengers business was mostly back to normal. It had been a month since the press conference, and Steve still wasn’t sure where he stood with Tony. He didn’t even know if Tony wanted him to keep wearing the ring.

The more time passed, the more Steve wanted to ask Tony about their plan but he felt nervous about bringing it up. He wasn’t even sure what he hoped Tony would say. Continuing on with the charade seemed silly now that the press wasn’t harassing Tony. But if they weren’t pretending anymore, maybe Tony wouldn’t want to spend time with Steve at all. Steve didn’t really want to go back to the previous status quo, where they only saw each other if they were preparing for a mission.

He changed into sweatpants and a white t-shirt to go for a run around the compound, hoping that it would help clear his mind and help him gather the courage to talk to Tony. 

Tony, apparently, was one step ahead of him.

Steve heard him before he saw him, and he slowed to a walk as he came around one of the large oak trees that dotted the pathway. Tony had his hands stuffed into the pockets of his slacks, and he was scuffing the toe of his tennis shoe along the ground.

“Hey, you,” he said when Steve met his gaze. “Sam said you’d be out here.”

“You didn’t have to come all the way here, Tony.” Steve approached cautiously. “I have been meaning to talk to you about our situation.”

“I can’t believe how fast time went by,” Tony said absently. He had his hands behind his back and was gazing up at the tree. 

Steve hated not being prepared. He hadn’t thought of anything eloquent to say, so he feared what was going to come out of his mouth. He forged ahead anyway.

“We probably don’t need to wear these rings anymore,” he said as he started to slide his off of his finger.

Tony’s eyes darted to Steve’s hand, and Steve noticed his mouth turn downwards in a slight frown. The sight of him disgruntled like that gave Steve a small sliver of hope.

“But maybe spending some time together wouldn’t be the worst thing?” Steve added as he fiddled with the ring. He held his breath as Tony looked up at him with sparkling eyes.

“You know you don’t need an excuse to come see me, right?” Tony said softly.

Steve smiled and looked down, suddenly feeling shy. Maybe Tony could see right through him. Steve reluctantly decided to admit what he hadn’t dared admit before. Taking off the ring felt too final, too resolute. It was now or never.

“I’ve been thinking about you… us. I’d like to explore that, for real this time,” Steve admitted, still not looking at Tony’s face. He held out the gold band.

Tony reached out to take it, his fingers lingering against Steve’s palm before he picked it up.

“Yeah?” Tony asked. He sounded a little breathless and Steve looked up to find that his eyes were widened in surprise. 

Steve nodded. Tony’s face broke into a grin and Steve felt's heart felt light, like a burden had been lifted.

“Shall we?” Steve gestured down the path and held out his elbow, mostly joking. Tony laughed and rolled his eyes, but then Tony threaded his arm through Steve’s and it didn’t seem like a joke anymore.


End file.
